


Bleeding Irony

by Siriscolor



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Biting, Blood, Drama, M/M, Non con but like its not rape, Of course theres biting, Reijis a bitch and its kinda hot, Totally into bitch reiji now, Violence, its a vampire fic, vampire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 00:28:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18457754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siriscolor/pseuds/Siriscolor
Summary: Jeez, this was a tank to write. I hope I ended that okay? I know my favorite scene to write was Camus's conversion scene, it was hella fun. I got philosophical at parts so I hope it didn't drag, but all in all this was a fun write. I hope you enjoyed reading it!





	Bleeding Irony

\-------- Ai --------

“Care to tell me what that is all about?” Camus arms were crossed, and an air of annoyance radiated off of him as he sat across a table from Ai and Ranmaru. Idle chatter filled the room around the trio and coffee and tea sat before them, forgotten on the table as Camus resumed the conversation. The sudden sound seemed to visibly pull Ranmaru from his thoughts as he shook his head slightly, meeting Camus’s eyes.

“What is?”

“That wound, near your neck. It doesn’t seem to be going away.” Camus’s scrutinizing eyes met the purple, bruised mark. There were two small, circular spots, close in proximity to each other in the midst of it. Upon closer inspection, there may have been a dappling of lighter marks in a short semi-circle radiating from the two points. Ranmaru must have fidgeted under Camus’s gaze because Camus let out a dissatisfied huff, flopping back in his seat again, although a slight hint of worry was apparent in his eyes.

Ranmaru shrugged, his jacket falling easily to mask the mark, it almost looked accidental, though Ai knew he felt uncomfortable. Ai shifted his gaze down to the white mug he had his two hands wrapped around, dozens of thoughts racing through his head as he gazed into the dark, swirling depths of his tea, white steam drifting carelessly upward.

“You know your old bandmates were using you.” Ai’s eyes widened slightly as he heard Camus lifting his voice again, “All they saw in you was a walking blood bag.” Ai lifted his head and looked between the two, Camus had clearly struck a nerve on Ranmaru, but he continued. “Those beasts don't belong in this world.” Suddenly he turned on Ai, “You’re lucky you’re human, if you had been one of them, I would have thrown you in prison myself.”

Ai flinched.

“My apologies for the initial misconception.”

“Oi, you're quite talkative, aren’t you? Why don't you make use of your talk and call for the bill.” Ai noticed Ranmaru’s balled fists on his lap beneath the table, he shot him a sympathetic glance.

Camus hit the table with his own fist, the noise dimming the volume in the café momentarily, before it resumed again. “You can’t keep evading the truth. You have to realize some day.”

“Let’s go, Ranmaru…” Ai mumbled. He didn’t want a fight to break out, nonetheless any blood to be spilled.

Who knew if vampires were amongst them?

Ranmaru held his eye contact with Camus though, the tension was palpable. “What I do in my personal life does not concern you.”

“It does when vampires are involved.” Camus’s voice was now audibly worrisome, despite the rising anger that laced every word, lifting his voice above idle chatter. “You fail to notice that they only want to kill you.”

A hush came over the café as attention was directed toward the trio.

“Ranmaru, let’s go.” Ai repeated, this time anxious under the curious stares and the multiplying whispers.

“I don't believe that.” Came Ranmaru’s hurt reply, slithering out between clenched teeth. He turned to Ai and nodded.

Camus frustrated voice echoed behind the retreating pair, “I don’t see how either of you could respect those demons.”

\-------- Ai --------

“I should really hide this…” Ranmaru winced as his fingers barely grazed the mark on his neck.

Despite the decent amount of people in the café, the late night left the sidewalks mostly barren. Street lamps cast dancing golden cones of light to the ground as Ai and Ranmaru walked past houses upon houses. The night was fairly warm yet Ai still felt a chill go down his spine.

“I hate it.”

Ranmaru cast a questioning glance toward Ai at the sudden curse. Ai stopped walking, tightening his grasp on his crossed arms as he fixed his glare on the beige sidewalk.

“Demon. Monster. Beast. I didn’t choose this life!” Ai barely felt his own nails pricking at his skin. “Why must I be affected by the decisions of other people?”

“Ai…”

“It’s stupid. It’s so fucking stupid.” A wetness touched Ai’s fingertips, sticky and much less sweet than a human’s. Faster than much more blood could come, however, the wound was gone, as if it had never happened. A much less sticky wetness trickled down his cheeks.

Ranmaru grabbed Ai’s hands and moved them away from his arms, placing them at his sides. He then wrapped his arms around Ai and slowly pet his hair, “Humans and vampires are much more similar than I feel we let on.” Ai grasped the back of Ranmaru’s shirt for comfort, they stood like that for a while, with Ranmaru murmuring words of comfort to him.

\-------- ??? --------

“Hypocritical bitch!” A thin crack split the still night air as skin made abrupt contact against skin, a bright red, stinging mark was left on the blonde’s face.

The blonde’s hand shot up and grabbed the wrist of the transformed brunette. “Who gave you the right to touch me?” Venomous sounding words dripped from his lips.

“You so easily degrade us in front of your fellow humans in the safety of your little buildings, but as soon as you humans confront us you become cowardly and weak. ‘Spare me!’ I have never heard such pitiful, hypocritical words.” The brunette stepped back, his voice easily as intimidating as the blonde’s.

“Spare me your pity talk, Reiji. Like Hell, I’d be afraid of you. I’m a man of my word.”

“‘I’m a man of my word.’ Don’t make me laugh!” Suddenly Reiji’s eyes were disbelievingly amused, “What kind of ‘man of his word’ degrades the kind he comes from?”

Camus became quiet, fury accumulating on top of the events of just a few hours prior.

Reiji mockingly put a clawed hand to his chest, “Aww, darling, did I hit a nerve? Miss your Queen?” He sneered. “I know how excited you were when you were adopted to be her personal… what was the word you used? Bloodbag? Why’d you give up such an honorable role just to continue it somewhere else? Do you just love being a hypocrite, is that it?”

“Watch your mouth.” Camus enunciated through gritted teeth.

Reiji smirked, he seemed to slink forward to Camus’s ear, “Afraid of your own words? Show me just how much of a ‘man of your word’ you are.” Reiji quickly caught Camus’s fist as it flew toward him, bending his arm down and kicking his legs out from under him. As Camus fell to the ground, Reiji crouched beside him, eyeing the long sleeves of his shirt with a sly smirk. “How many summers have you endured in warm clothing? Those sleeves tell more truth than the lies they cover.”

Camus stayed on the ground, knowingly overpowered. “That’s my business.” He grunted, subconsciously recoiling his arms to his sides as he sat up.

“I wonder how supple the flesh of your arms still is? How many times has it been, now? Your blood is so unique.” Reiji cooed, gently reaching for Camus’s arm. His tongue flicked between his fangs as he licked his lips.

“Leave me alone.”

Reiji huffed, “Now, now. Where’d that tough shell go? Have I broken it?” His clawed hand lurched forward and snatched Camus’s arm, pulling the sleeve back. Up and down his arm were the scars and bruises of Reiji’s many previous feedings. “Or are you secretly excited?”

Camus growled in dissatisfaction, “Like Hell if I am.” But he didn't try to pull away from Reiji, Camus knew by now that he couldn’t fight it. He shivered as Reiji dragged his fangs lightly up the underside of his arm.

“That’s my little hypocritical masochist.” Reiji said, flicking his tongue over his lips once more before diving his teeth into the softest part of Camus’s flesh.

\-------- Ai --------

Ranmaru let out a grunt as Ai’s teeth sunk into his neck, two pin pricks, followed by a dull, rhythmic throbbing swathing his skin. “Let it out, Ai, I can take it.” He felt Ai’s hands pressing against his bare shoulders and his thighs straddling his own as Ai’s whole being constricted Ramaru tighter like a snake. “As much as you want, I'll return it.” Ranmaru felt his head tilt back as Ai leaned further against him, naturally Ranmaru felt his hand land on Ai’s waist.

Then Ai detached his teeth, shaking his head. “Why don’t you choose a more discreet location for me to feed? Your neck is so hard to hide, it makes other people look.”

“Let them stare, I don’t care.” Ai knew that was simply a cover. “Besides, it's just about the best spot for you.”

“I’m full anyway.” Ai said, turning away, “I take so much from you and have nothing to give in return.” He sighed.

“I could return the gesture.”

“Gesture?”

Ranmaru leaned forward and began to slowly suck at Ai’s neck, his own human canines testing at the resilience of the vampiric skin. Ranmaru’s hands pressed into Ai’s thighs as he began leaving a mark of his own against his skin. A small moan left Ai's throat before he could stop it, causing his face to flush at the sound he was still unused to uttering, though he had done a few times. He felt Ranmaru's smirk against his skin as the white haired human drew his tongue delicately, repeatedly across the now tender flesh.

Ranmaru's teasing bites became heavier and soon they pierced through. Each time, Ai healed quickly, however the pain flushing through his tolerant body warranted a small thrill with each go. Ai now had wrapped his arms around Ranmaru as the human scratched him and bit him, careful yet demanding all the same. He let out another moan.

When Ranmaru decided he was finished, he pulled his head back, drops of scarlet red trickling down his lips and chin, dropping gently against Ai's chest and leaving behind streaks. Ai leaned forward and licked up his sour blood from Ranmaru’s chin before he chuckled, his breathing only slightly unsteady. “Have I ever told you, you would make a good vampire?”

Ranmaru squinted, “Then who would take care of your feeding?” He mused.

“Then you didn’t swallow any, did you?” Ai suddenly fretted, “Humans can only ingest so much before-”

“I’m fine, I was careful.”

\-------- Camus --------

Camus rubbed his inner elbow, slightly sore after giving to that thing. Why must Reiji go after him, anyway? Certainly there were plenty of humans who would give up their blood much easier than him? His mind flitted back to his coffee with Ai and Ranmaru. The discussion was supposed to be over how to ward off vampires, however Ranmaru had quickly dismissed the idea and they had sat in silence for a while. It was only the mark on Ranmaru’s neck that made Camus wary.

That mark was undoubtedly inflicted by a vampire, it paralleled the marks on Camus's arms all too closely. And by how regularly it was there, Camus could only assume Ranmaru was one of those who chose to be fed on. It made him shudder, he, himself had no choice. Reiji was demanding, he fought for it. Ranmaru, however, worked hard to stop Camus's ill talk of vampires, despite the fact that he had been often fed from. One could only make connections…

And then there was Ai. He showed up one day, unbeknownst to Camus, as a friend of Ranmaru's. At first, Camus assumed him to be Aine, a vampiric friend of Reiji's who looked all too similar to Ai. He had converted Reiji to vampirism. Camus quickly tried to stop his own friendship with Reiji afterward so as to protect himself from the same kind from the nation he came from.

The purplish mark that Camus commonly saw peeking from the neckline of Ai's shirt after meeting him told him that Ai was probably more like Ranmaru's type of human: seeking pleasure or something of the sort from those fanged beasts. This is what he could assume, at least, yet something was still off.

Lost in his thoughts, Camus's feet led the way. He only stopped before a large, gray, stone brick house that had an old air to it, yet was visibly modern, as if it had been redone a few times. The dark roof barely reflected the early morning sunlight and smoke billowed carelessly from the two chimneys. The windows were framed with white sills and beautiful orange trees lined the well-kept walkway.

The aura of this house drew Camus in. Before he knew what he was doing, he was sauntering up the path, absorbing the view of the structure. Only halfway up the path did he realize something that made him pause.

Light reflected into his eye from the silver knife blade at his throat, Camus's potential attacker stood behind him.

“I was just thinking how I should have taken more than just your blood.”

\-------- Ai --------

Ai touched the purple skin where he had been bitten, a contented smile playing on his lips at how it looked slightly like a bite he might have administered. The difference: the lack of two central puncture wounds. He knew this cover wouldn’t last forever, but it was what he had for now. As long as the humans remained oblivious to the actions of other humans, they would stay to pity humans bitten by vampires. In this world, his kind were the ones constantly at fault, no matter the situation leading toward an event and someone’s inevitable demise. Still, some individuals went to lengths equaling the social stigma for a race supposedly misunderstood.

This world was full of that word. Misunderstandings. It was almost an excuse at this point.

Ai looked over at Ranmaru’s resting form, frowning. Was it really a misunderstanding that lead to Ranmaru's old bandmates almost killing him so long ago? Was it a misunderstanding that caused Aine to convert Reiji to a vampire? Would it be a misunderstanding if Ai let his bloodlust get the better of him some day? Or would it be another media broadcast about how vampires were plaguing the human world? No witnesses, no attesting from other parties, just to have the accused vampire wind up found murdered just days after the broadcast. Friends and acquaintances turned enemy, leading to murder. Who was really at fault here?

Were vampires really that different from humans? Both like the same music, play the same games, talk the same languages, wear the same clothes. In a crowd, could you pick out a vampire if they possessed their stable form? Humans feel preyed upon, but what about the animals they harness, how do they feel? Reiji was right, Ai sighed, what a hypocritical species.

A hand landing on Ai’s knee made him let out a yelp of surprise, he hadn’t noticed he had switched to his unstable form just by daydreaming. “Are you okay?” Ranmaru was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, but he had already trained his attention on Ai.

“They mistreat us, Ranmaru.”

“I know, but it’s not like we can do anything about it. Humans are stubborn.”

Ai closed his eyes momentarily, “I know so many who try to drink that bland animal blood instead, they don't want conflict. But they’re generalized, vampires become bitter and afraid, making humans the same. It doesn’t help that vampires are so attracted to the smell and taste of your kind’s blood.” Forcing himself to calm down, he looked at Ranmaru who nodded, he gave Ai his blood knowing that it was preferred.

“That’s the one of the many quirks of us, we can't look past what’s rooted so deep inside us, no matter how much we try. There will always be a hierarchy, always those who make dumb decisions because they live solely for themselves, and there’s no excuse for it. Humans are interesting like that.” Ranmaru looked at his hands in his lap, probably recounting many people in his life and his past. 

“But there are always the few that break the mold.”

\-------- Camus --------

Camus narrowed his eyes, “Cut the shit, Vampire, I gave you my blood, now leave me be.” 

“You see, this is quite the predicament. Here you are, on my walkway, leading to my house, and you want me to leave you be? No, how about a proposition?” Reiji’s face held an eerie smile as he stepped away and gestured with his knife, “You come inside and join me for a nice conversation, or-” the smile vanished from his face, “I paint my sidewalk a nice, scarlet red.”

“I don’t trust your kind enough for that level intimacy.” Camus said cooly, starting to turn away.

In a flash, Reiji’s knife was at Camus’s neck once more, “You’re right, now that I think about it, blood oranges would go much nicer with my house.”

“Aren’t you full from your fix a few hours ago?” Camus once more touched his hand to his inner elbow, wincing is it only felt more sore from the last time he touched it.

Reiji shook his head, once again stepping back, visibly annoyed at Camus’s persistence. “Like I said, I just want to chat.”

“Okay, Vampire, right away. I’ll ignore the fact that you want to kill me.”

“Do we always have to kill?” Reiji sighed, glancing toward his house.

Camus narrowed his eyes defiantly, “Isn’t that a vampire’s main goal?”

It was then when Reiji’s last thread of patience snapped, his voice rose to an angry growl, “Call me Vampire one more time, and I'll break your fucking neck. I have a name and it’s Reiji. Now, shut your mouth and get inside before I actually decide to live up to your stigma.”

“And what if I don’t?”

“Did I not just tell you what happens if you don't?”

Camus took a glance toward the house, starting to move in the direction of it, before breaking from the path and bolting across the yard, his legs pumping as he forced speed into them. He didn’t get far, however, before he felt something hit him hard, square in the back of his head, sending him flying to the ground, his vision going black.

*********

Camus opened his eyes blearily, unsure of what had just happened and why he was asleep. Shifting in he spot, he tried to stand, only to be forcibly pushed back against the leather straps that held him down to the chair. A dull pain throbbed at the back of his skull, making him wince. His eyes could not adapt to the gloom as there was not an inch of light past that which outlined a tall rectangle that must have been a door at the top of stairs a short ways in front of him. He watched it for a while, listening to the sounds that came from above him, he must have been in a basement or a cellar. Suddenly the rectangle swung open and the outline of a person walked through it, Camus didn't need a second glance to recognise the shape as Reiji. 

“You’re awake? Good.” Reiji flicked on a lightswitch, making Camus cringe away as the small room was swathed in light. It seemed to be just as he presumed, a small disused coal cellar, revealing that the house must have been decades old at the least. The walls were visibly smooth stones that were puzzle-pieced together, all different shapes, sizes, and earthy colors. A few feet in front of him were red brick stairs that lead up to the doorway, next to which was an insert in the wall for items to be held and a lightswitch, the long wire treading into the room and dangling a lightbulb from the ceiling. Reiji began to move down the stairs after Camus had finished inspecting his surroundings with his eyes.

Camus met his eyes with Reiji, defiance glistening in his gaze, “Care to tell me what that is all about?”

“You sound like a broken record, Human.”

A scoff, “Vampires.”

Reiji kneeled down in front of Camus, annoyance waned in and out of his face as he steadied his sight on him. “What about us?”

“You tell us you’re misunderstood and yet you proceed to act like criminals.” He tugged his arm against the leather strap, as if to prove his point. “If you really wanted to be understood, follow some kind of law.”

“And how long would that work? You humans think the solution to our troubles is so easy, yet you’re the exact reason we have troubles in the first place. Just what do you think caused the initial hatred our kind? You humans are a weak species that fear any type of predator, we drink your blood because if we don’t we starve.” Reiji was morphing in front of Camus’s eyes, visibly uncomfortable as the process seemed less smooth than he expected, but the burning anger in Reiji’s eyes never ceased. In slight fascination, Camus watched Reiji’s pupils slit, the teeth of his mouth elongate as he panted, and his nails grew long and pointed.

“Y-You could drink from animals.” Camus suggested, trying to force his thoughts away from Reiji’s changing features.

Reiji let out a growl as he bit his own lips, “Don’t you think we tried? The humans still complain about finding livestock with bite marks or dead ones with no blood. We moved to wild animals, but they always find out. Besides,” Reiji squeezed shut his eyes, letting out a hiss from the pain, “their blood is always bland and foul, human blood is sweet.”

“But you still fail to see how we feel about it. Do you realize how worrying it is to see our animals and friends turn up with mysterious bite marks, half drained of life?” Camus clenched his fists on the wooden chair arms, he was beginning to feel stiff from sitting in the same position for so long.

“How you feel?” Reiji seemed to settle out of his pain, now in his unstable form, letting out a scoff, “Some vampires care just about as much as humans on how others feel, none of this would have happened if either races were perfect. But this is how it is, it’s too late to change anything, and if we were to try, it would take years.” Reiji scoffed, standing up, “Even then, you humans are discriminatory by nature, you hate us just for existing, for some of us, the feeling is mutual. Both of our kinds hate by default, we do wrong so often that we don't even notice when we do it anymore. Some of us are just more hypocritical than others.” Reiji shot a petrifying glance at Camus, before chuckling in disbelief, “You call us creatures of folklore and fear us, yet I've never seen a scarier species than yourselves.”

Camus was beginning to feel defeated, his sarcasm gone long ago. He remembered when his old friend used to be so kind and compassionate, carefree and bubbly, yet here he now was, aggressive and cynical. Was this what happened to people after they changed? Kindness thrown to the dogs as they became the equivalent of a demon? Camus gritted his teeth, hatred burning in his chest at the man who stood before him, yet he knew, deep down, he knew Reiji hadn’t spoken a single lie. “Reiji… What happened?”

Reiji returned his attention to Camus with deadly accuracy, “Don't you dare pity me, you have no place. Just because you were a queen’s pet once, does not make you my ruler, so shut your mouth.” His bitter words came crackling through the stale air. “You’ll see. I’ll make you see. Just the same way Aine showed me.” Reiji narrowed his eyes. “Did you know that Aine disappeared? That’s right, you wouldn’t. You left me to cope alone.” A smile was on his face, he even let out a laugh, he was definitely unstable. “I was alone. Alone to fend for myself and learn how to live as a vampire. Alone with no one to talk to, humans feared me. No one taught me how to control my form. I learned it all myself. All on my own. And here you are, trying to pity me.” His smile vanished on the spot, “Now I know you only existed to lead me on. You were never a true friend in the first place.”

Camus kept quiet, guilt rising inside of him as he bit his bottom lip.

“Inferior hypocrites. That what's you are. I’ll never go back. I’ll never return to that disgusting race.” Reiji started to pace, his breaths shaking with every inhale. “You know, I always thought you talked big for a rat.” Reiji spat, turning and inching toward Camus. “Squeal like the pest you are.”

A loud hiss erupted from Reiji and suddenly Camus’s chair was kicked over, making Camus land on his back with a thud. Camus was winded but Reiji spared no second leaping for him and sinking his teeth deep into Camus’s shoulder causing Camus to scream as blood welled from the wound.

“You’ll see. You’ll see.”

Reiji bit at his own arm, making a large enough wound that would take longer to regenerate. Swiftly, he pressed it against Camus’s shoulder, mixing the blood and sending Reiji’s coursing through Camus’s bloodstream. A red hot fire burned through his skin everywhere Reiji’s blood went, his only reaction was to writhe against his binding and scream out in horror as his eyes, gums, and fingers started to change.

Reiji’s voice lifted above Camus’s, “You’ll see! You’ll see, you’ll see!!” Crazed laughter contorted Reiji’s face, but the tears that streamed down his face left Camus confused behind his pain.

Minutes passed and pain turned to throbbing. Reiji had returned Camus’s chair to an upright position, and he now sat in the corner of the small cellar, his legs criss-crossed as he leaned forward and pressed his fingers against his temples. A quiet “What have I done…” escaping his lips every few breaths.

Camus was no longer strapped to his seat, the tight, leather binding had been unlatched and he was able to stand freely. Camus’s head was swimming with fatigue and confusion, a thought of making a break for it crossed his mind, but the throb in the back of his head from earlier reminded him of it being a bad decision.

“Go.” A weak voice erupted from Reiji as he turned to face Camus, “Go before I change my mind.”

“What?”

“Get out!” Reiji screeched, clenching his fists, he began mumbling. “I’m no better than the rest of them. Always so arrogant. I’ve doomed him to the life I hated him for. It wasn’t even his fault. I shouldn’t have-”

Camus didn’t hear another second of it, he raced up the brick stairs and out of the coal cellar, noticing himself to be behind Reiji’s house, in a space enclosed by fencing. Camus didn’t pay too much attention to it. He needed to talk to Ranmaru, he needed to apologise. His new form granted immense speed to his body, sending him racing through the back alleys as he took the route to his friends house.

*********

Camus only began to think about how he would explain to Ranmaru what happened after he reached his front door. He went to knock, but a loud thump from inside the house made dread course through his veins, hotter than Reiji’s blood. He tried to tell himself that it was nothing, but something told him that something had happened.

Reaching inside the mailbox, Camus removed the false bottom and took out the spare key, swiftly unlocking the door and swinging it open after he heard a click. It took him moments to race into the room where Camus assumed the sound had come from. Once there, Camus’s eyes landed on Ranmaru, causing him to stop dead in his tracks.

Ranmaru was pinned against a wall, his head tilted back in a moan as Ai bit his way along his shoulder, blood dripping down Ranmaru’s chest. Camus’s sudden entry caused both of them to to look up at him, Ranmaru’s already flushed face seemed to get redder.

And Ai…

Ai was a vampire. When he had met him he had seen bites on his shoulder and assumed he and Ranmaru were into the same thing, but that must not have been the case. Camus tore from his idle state and raced forward to Ranmaru, throwing Ai aside and slapping Ranmaru, tears beginning to fall down his face. “How could you enjoy this? Do you want to get converted?”

Ranmaru merely stood in shock as he took in Camus’s vampiric features. “What-?”

“I came here to apologise. I realized I might have been wrong about vampires, but I see you here, in this position. Do you realize how easily Ai can change you? One wrong move and your fate is sealed as a hated being.”

“Ai would never do that.” Ranmaru defended, pushing Camus away and glancing at Ai. “Not all vampires are the same.” Once again, that hurt expression crossed his gaze. “Take you for example, I thought you hated them, but here you are amongst them. It’s ironic isn’t it? You only realize you’re wrong after you’ve been changed.”

Camus narrowed his eyes at the accusation, “How do you know I’ve just been changed?”

“There’s a bite and fresh blood on your neck, the only one I’ve ever seen.”

Ai stepped forward, forgotten for a second as Ranmaru and Camus squabbled, he now raised his voice to be heard. “It’s not his first.”

All attention in the room was shifted to Ai in that moment. Camus’s eyes widened, how did he know?

“Every time we see him, he has my friend Reiji’s scent all over him. It’s especially strong near his arms.” Ai stepped forward and gently reached for Camus’s arms, who jerked them back out of habit.

Ranmaru stepped forward and did the same, gently lifting his sleeves and revealing the multitudes of bites that Reiji had left on his arms, the one on his inner elbow showing freshest. “Camus… Why?”

Camus bit his lip to hold back a remark, “Do you think I wanted this? Do you think I wanted any of this. Reiji is the reason why I hated vampires in the first place.” Camus shifted under the stare of his friend, “And the reason why I want to apologise. I-I don’t know what to do.” Camus looked at his hands, then watched as Ai swiftly and cleanly morphed back into a humanic form, starkly different from Reiji’s transformation. “I don’t know how any of this works.”

Ai looked away, “You’ve said so much against us, never once did you think about how we may feel.” He looked up and met Camus’s eyes, “If you think I’m going to help you, you’re a fool just as much as you are a ‘monster’.” Ai turned and left.

From behind Camus, a fourth figure appeared. Camus clenched his fists, feeling his apprehension rise. Ranmaru seemed very calm to be in a room with three vampires. “Apologies get you nowhere, you're just making yourself out to be a brat.” It was Reiji, his demeanor had changed from the panicky one he had back at his house after he had converted Camus. “If you’re really having that much trouble, I’ll train you, but I’m not going to mother you. You either learn it on your own, or you learn it the hard way.” It seemed to be Reiji’s way of repenting, as he seemed regretful previously.

Camus looked at Ranmaru, his friend shifted under his gaze. “I’m not going to feed you… That’s just… Just a thing between me and Ai.”

Camus smiled sadly, this turn of events was overwhelming but he still had people to help him, even if they didn’t entirely trust him. It could always be worse…

“It’s okay, I’ll find another way.”

**Author's Note:**

> Jeez, this was a tank to write. I hope I ended that okay? I know my favorite scene to write was Camus's conversion scene, it was hella fun. I got philosophical at parts so I hope it didn't drag, but all in all this was a fun write. I hope you enjoyed reading it!


End file.
